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<\/a><\/p>\nBefore the summer gets away from us all (well, times flies when you’re busy, and before we know it, school will be starting), I’m showcasing today one of the most summery picture books I’ve seen this year, Pig Kahuna<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Bloomsbury, May 2011). <\/p>\n This is the third picture book from fine artist Jennifer Sattler<\/a><\/strong>. (This 2009 7-Imp post<\/a><\/strong> features art from her first two titles.) It tells the story of Fergus and his baby brother, Dink, who are collecting treasures at the shore one day: Seaweed. A pebble that looks like an eyeball. A shell that might really be a shark’s tooth. Their collection grows. And all is well, “as long as Fergus didn’t have to go in the water.” There is<\/em> the “lurking, murky ickiness factor of the water,” after all. <\/p>\n But then a surfboard washes ashore. They name it Dave. Needless to say, they play with it well away from the water. But when Fergus trots off to get ice cream, Dink sets Dave free. (This is pictured above.) Fergus braves the water to save Dave, but the entire experience isn’t what he expected: <\/p>\n Don’t worry. The look of fear eventually subsides. <\/p>\n Sattler’s sunny spreads are rendered in acrylics and colored pencil. Kristi Jemtegaard in the Washington Post<\/em> wrote, “Jennifer Sattler’s sun-drenched beachscapes sweep across the pages, a-bubble with foamy fantasy, and her big-eyed, flat-snouted porcine heroes with their sailboat-sized ears are guaranteed giggle-makers.”<\/em> That pretty much sums it up right there. <\/p>\n This one’s simply some good summer fun. Er, I mean, totally righteous fun, kahunas and dudettes. Right. I’m not so good at surfing lingo, am I? <\/p>\n You can click each image above to enlarge and take in Sattler’s brushstrokes and sunshine’y colors. <\/p>\n Okay, now for the book-give-away contest thingy<\/font>: You all remember this recent post<\/a><\/strong>, yes? Well, John and Jana’s A Rule Is to Break: A Child’s Guide to Anarchy<\/em> is now out<\/a><\/strong>. Since there was such a happy response to that book’s very existence, John and Jana are doing a book-give-away here at 7-Imp. So, if you’re interested, here’s what you can do:<\/p>\n So, let’s hear about your own moment of anarchy, shall we? (Feel free to even post your fifty-word story in the comments, if you’re so inclined. And of course it doesn’t have to be exactly fifty words. -Ish will do.) <\/p>\n To get us in the spirit of things, here’s my tale ‘o’ anarchy (though clearly I’m exempt from this contest): I once went streaking with friends late at night on my college campus. Believe it or not, no alcohol was involved. I may or may not have done it twice, in point of fact. (I heard later that we may have started a trend, too, and that a group of people in the class under us engaged in their own streaking, all inspired by our own frivolities and goofiness, but don’t quote me on that, as I’m not entirely sure.)<\/p>\n Now that I’ve admitted that, DUDE. You gotta<\/em> share. <\/p>\n PIG KAHUNA. Copyright \u00a9 2011 by Jennifer Sattler. Published by Bloomsbury, New York. Spreads reproduced by permission of Ms. Sattler.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. <\/p>\n This doesn’t really fit in a kicks post, but today is the 12th anniversary of my brother’s death. I don’t know how to word this part of my post, and I’ve written and Anyhow. Because I was lucky enough to know him, kick #1 is…<\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> …this picture of us when we were little:<\/p>\n I’d like to think of him as being in another room somewhere, waiting just around the corner, where I can see him again one day. Who knows. We move on. We focus on the living, yes? It’s all we can do. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> It made me laugh out loud when Genevi\u00e8ve C\u00f4t\u00e9 said in Thursday’s interview<\/a><\/strong>, when I asked what profession she would not like to do, “I have the utmost respect for all medical professions, and as an illustrator, I\u2019m grateful that my worst mistake will probably never be more serious than drawing a dog that looks like a misshapen kangaroo.”<\/em><\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> This is a couple of weeks old, but I keep forgetting: I also laughed when Roger Sutton<\/a><\/strong> tweeted on July 7th, “Today is NOT a good day to stick a ‘whimsical’ picture book in front of my nose.” That just got me. <\/p>\n 4)<\/strong><\/font> Adam Rex + Neil Gaiman. See?<\/a><\/strong> I had no idea about this until this week, and I gasped all happy-like. <\/p>\n 5)<\/strong><\/font> You must watch this great trailer<\/a><\/strong>. I wish I could embed it here. <\/p>\n Heaven bless Aardman<\/a><\/strong> Animations. <\/p>\n 5\u00bd)<\/strong><\/font> Ingrid Dabringer\u2019s map paintings<\/a><\/strong> are neat. Thanks to Susan Thomsen<\/a><\/strong> for that link. <\/p>\n 6)<\/strong><\/font> The July issue of The Bluegrass Special<\/em> is online<\/a><\/strong>. Those guys rock. <\/p>\n Speaking of music, this news<\/a><\/strong> about The Black Keys’ next CD makes me do a fist pump. I think they could perform the alphabet and I’d be entertained. <\/p>\n 7)<\/strong><\/font> I heard Michael Sims<\/a><\/strong> speak yesterday at the Nashville Public Library about this book<\/a><\/strong>, which I’m currently reading and which is delightful. He was a wonderful<\/em> speaker, so funny and self-deprecating but quite obviously brilliant at what he does. And before I heard him, I took in this Charlotta Janssen exhibit<\/a><\/strong> about the Freedom Riders. No, really. Go watch the video at that link, if you have a second. Fascinating. <\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\nEmail me<\/a><\/strong> by Wednesday of this week fifty words on your most anarchic act. John and Jana have three copies of the book (with anarchic buttons) to give away. John, Jana, and I will each pick a favorite anarchic story, and then those will be the three winners. (If this sounds clumsy, blame me. I don’t tend to do book give-aways, but when John said “they can email you fifty words on their most anarchic act,” I was all, THAT IS FASCINATING AND LET’S DO IT.) <\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\ndeleted<\/del>. And written and deleted<\/del>. And written and deleted<\/del> again. I don’t want to bring the room down, and I don’t intend for this to be a buzz-kill (kicks-kill?) or for the comments to become a dumping ground for condolences. But to not<\/em> mention him today just feels wrong. I miss him. He was my favorite human. I wish so super bad that my girls knew him. They are the same age difference (nineteen months apart) that my brother and I were, and they have at least inherited the same fondness (ahem, obsession) for cats my brother and I had when we were little. It’s funny to see it all play out again. And in the same little idiosyncratic ways. <\/p>\n